The quantitative assessment of cultural similarity in Europe - Proposition for an index on cultural similarity

Research on transnationalization and by some sociological fields tries to explain the varying intensity of bonds between countries. Cultural similarity is often regarded as relevant, but an empirical control of this influence is missing. This article suggests an index on cultural similarity to fill this gap. Based on questions in the European Social Survey implementing the value dimensions of Shalom Schwartz, the index is defined as the general discriminant measure Wilks' Lambda of a pair-wise discriminant analysis. The index is controlled for intertemporal stability and correlated with similarity of languages, which has been proposed for measuring cultural similarity. Also other plausible patterns of cultural similarities are assessed with the index, i.e. spatial distance, religious heritage and political blocs. The index opens up the possibility of empirically assessing the influence of cultural similarity on transnational bonds and also allows for an empirical control of Parsons' famous thesis, that value consent is needed for social integration.